i'm thomas roberts. and we get straight to it. mitt romney is planting the front-runner status and the flag in two early important voting states, but new polls this morning solidify herman cain's standing with republican voters. the big news is in iowa. our nbc news marist poll shows romney ahead in the state. he hasn't devoted many resources to it, but herman cain is right behind him with 20%. and the good news continues for romney in new hampshire. he's over 40% with cain a distant second and rick perry towards the back of the pack. so, is the gop primary mitt romney's to lose? let's bring in our panel and talk about this. jennifer donohue, fellow at the eisenhower institute at getingsburg college and contributor to "the huffington post" and mr. smerconish. jennifer, i start with you. every poll out this morning is good news for mitt romney. has he solidified the front-runner status now? and looking deeper in the poll,

he beats president obama 49%-40% in new hampshire. so, does he really have the lead he wants? is it solidified? >> i don't think it's solidified. i think there are a couple things working against him. he's gotten another look from voters and he's doing well in the polls now, but there's a long time between now and when the voting starts in three months. a lot can change. if we're seeing numbers like this in three months, then i'll say, yes, it's his to lose. but right now, what you're getting is ila lot of people wh are taking a fresh look at him. he's still capped. he's still not getting a lot of the supporters who were tea party supporters. he still has a religion issue where a lot of evangelical voters, which dominate the iowa caucuses, say they're not comfortable with a mormon candidate. i think romney has to perform again tonight. i think perry has to find his sea legs in the debate tonight. if he doesn't, he's going to have a tough case making it in the media primary, this first primary we're engaged in right now, which is who the media and

tattering class decides will be the eventual nominee. >> michael, if there's one clear constant in these nbc news/marist polls, it's that herman cain is surging. he's neck and neck with romney in iowa among strong tea party support through the state there. he's crushing romney -- if we look at this. what does it say to you, especially about herman cain remaining strong, staying in power as he goes forward? >> thomas, we've seen a number of flashes in the pan. michele bachmann initially had a head of steam, and then it was governor perry who had a head of steam, and it remains to be seen whether he can regain that ground. now it's herman cain. and i guess my question is, a lot of focus tonight on governor perry. i think there will be a lot of focus tonight on herman cain, because now pleem pay attention to the guy and decide, is there there there? and i'm not sure. and tonight's a night on financial matters, as you know, but whether it gets to foreign policy, he can sustain the level of scrutiny that's going to be brought to bear? i think that's a great intangible. >> it's tough when people say

you don't want to be a shooting star, you want to be a long star. jennifer, seems like the biggest loser in the poll is rick perry with dismal numbers in both states. what does he need to do in tonight's debate to redeem his candidacy? i mean, he surged on to the scene, and it seems like as fast as he did, he has gone downhill. >> well, he needs to hit romney on romneycare, which is an economic issue, and he needs to take obama on. he needs to show that his economic message goes beyond texas. while texas has had a very strong economy, he needs to take it out of the region. and he is presenting a plan on friday. i think you can look for him to unveil parts of his plan tonight in the debate. he's been debating, doing debate prep with a romney stand-in. he's been practicing very hard. i talked to a senior member of his campaign today who said they're taking it very seriously, they understand how high the stakes are. perry has done nothing but prepare for this debate. and i think you're going to see a different rick perry tonight, one who's more jocular, one who

can take punches and land punches. i think they realize that this is do-or-die. >> michael, as jennifer is saying, rick perry needs to go after president obama, so let's focus on the incumbent, the president. he's in pennsylvania this hour, florida later today, talking about his jobs plan. it is in trouble in the senate. this morning's poll not a glowing recommendation. 42% approval in iowa, worse in new hampshire at 38%. how does he bring those numbers up? >> well, the president, thomas, is under water in pennsylvania, meaning that his negatives out-pace his positives, but so are all elected officials in pennsylvania. that puts him in the same realm as our governor, it puts him in the same realm as our united states senator, our most newly elected u.s. senator. when you then look at the president in head-to-head contests against each of these republican opponents, he still comes out on top. i think he needs to continue to drive a grand bargain because the polling data suggests that not only pennsylvanians, but also people across the country, buy into this notion that as

long as there is shared sacrifice, as long as there are spending cuts and tax increases, that's what they'd like to see. that's what he's advocated. so, somehow, he hasn't sold it right, i guess is my answer. >> jennifer, how bad is that new hampshire number at this stage in the game for an incumbent president, when you consider that at the electorate? >> well, it's a bad number for him, there's no doubt about it. but in new hampshire, polls really aren't reflective of reality until very close to the primary, and then very close to the general election. voters are still shopping around among republican candidates, they're still trying to decide where they think obama is on the economy. obama hasn't articulated a message that he feels people's pain. that's the biggest obstacle he has to face right now. it's likely that parts of his jobs bill will pass, and he has got to really get out there and sell it. he's got to show some emotion. he's got the same problem romney does, in some ways. they're not showing enough emotion. and voters right now feel a lot of pain. there are protesters out in the

streets. people need to show that they feel the pain of these people who are unemployed and people who are underemployed for such a long period of time. if obama can show that, if he can improve the economy somewhat within a year, i think we'll see a different set of poll numbers. >> the eisenhower institute's jennifer donohue, michael smerconish, thank you both for your time. while gop candidates prep this afternoon for their debate, senate republicans are expected to block the president's $447 billion job-creating legislation from passing the upper chamber. senate democratic leaders say they don't have a partner on the hill to get this done. take a listen. >> you're going to see the overwhelming majority of democrats vote for a jobs bill. you're going to see just about every republican vote against a job bill. they march in lockstep and they're adamant against even a proposal that has many elements that they've supported. >> florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz serves as chair of the democratic national committee and joins me this morning.

congresswoman, great to see you. >> you, too, thomas. thank you. >> the president's going to be in your state later today fund-raising, talking about his jobs bill and the senate vote that is expected to get little to no support from republicans. in your estimation, how much would a decision not to support this bill hurt americans, the ones who really need it right now? >> oh, it would be incredibly harmful for a member of congress to cast a vote against the american jobs act pushed by the president because the economy clearly needs that short-term shot in the arm to continue the recovery and the turn-around that has begun. you know, where we were bleeding 750,000 jobs a month just before president obama took office, and now we've had 19 straight months of private sector job growth, but we've got a long way to go. and you know, it's hard to understand, what are the republicans opposed to? are they opposed to putting construction workers back to work building roads and fixing bridges? are they opposed to keeping police officers, firefighters and teachers on the job? are they opposed to giving small

business owners and the middle class a payroll tax cut that would average about $1,500 in the pocket of the average middle class american? it's really difficult to understand, but i guess if you boil it down to politics, thomas, the republicans clearly only care about one job, barack obama, and democrats care about american jobs. so, that's really what it boils down to, and it's really sad. >> as you point out, there is a long way to go, and let's talk about the president's leadership. where does he need to make the better inroads with the american people who can give him four more years or with the lawmakers on the hill that seem, as you point out, constantly push back against his proposals, because basically, the no-votes they're casting aren't no-votes really against the american jobless, it's against the president and his confidence or their confidence in him and his leadership. >> no, the no-votes that those members of congress are casting are absolutely directly against the american people and against the american middle class, because that's what the frustration is out there right now. whether it's in my district in

south florida or in communities across the country, the middle class feel like there's really no one fighting for them, and that's why president obama is out there pushing so hard to make sure that this turn-around focuses on the middle class, focuses on giving the middle class and working families a fair shake, while the republicans seem exclusively focused on bettering life, which is already pretty darn good, for millionaires and billionaires, and that's the dramatic contrast that you'll see on the debate stage tonight, is republicans will be continuing to try to out-right wing each other, embrace the tea party, offer no solutions other than the ones that already got us into the economic crisis in the first place. >> let's talk about the occupy wall street movement. as you point out, there are lots of angry people, but now they have organized themselves through this movement. how do you think that it can move forward and make a direct impact when it comes to the hill? talking political structure here, as the head of the dnc, what would be your message to these protesters about getting

their mission statement across to the leaders on the hill? >> well, i think this organic movement that has cropped up all over the country that is occupy wall street and has become occupy boston and occupy miami and all over the country, is really symbolic of the frustration that middle class folks and working people feel that the wealthy seem to always have the wind at their backs, and at the end of the day, that they need to make sure that our economic policy is reflective of helping the middle class get ahead. and that's where i think that frustration, you know, germinates from. it's what president obama has been singularly focused on. and republicans seem to be singularly focused on continuing to fatten the wallets of people who are already quite fortunate. and so, i think we understand their frustration, we applaud their activism, and hopefully, they're going to help get the

republicans in washington's attention so that we shift the republicans' focus from just barack obama's job to everyone's job. >> congresswoman when we talk about occupy wall street and what they'd like to see moving forward in terms of a culture in this country, not taking on the rich so to speak, but taking on the financial system that got them that way, what is the reward for the efforts that they're putting out there? what are they go to see you guys take back to the hill and craft so that they feel that they have done something worthwhile? >> well, democrats in congress under president obama's leadership have continued to press for giving consumers a way to make sure that they are protected in the financial services system. passing wall street reform was a start. we have to stand up that consumer financial protection bureau that the republicans in the senate are blocking, the president's nominee from being voted on. we need to make sure that, like the credit card holders bill of rights, which we passed under

president obama's leadership, to make sure that credit card companies couldn't take advantage of consumers anymore, blinding them with out-of-control interest rates and other really anticonsumer polici policies. we need to continue to press forward on those consumer protections and strike a balance. obviously, we want business to thrive, but we don't want them to thrive by running over consumers. republicans seem -- their solution, thomas, the republicans' answer to getting the economy turned around is just going back to the same deregulatory process that we were in before the economic crisis that got us into that situation in the first place and gave all of the advantages to business and allowed the fox to guard the hen house. we can't go that route anymore, and that's what the occupy wall street protesters are out there protesting about. >> congresswoman and dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz, good to see you this morning. appreciate it. >> you, too, thomas. thank you so much. >> as we were talking about, occupy wall street protesters

are in new york, hoping to pay a visit to the richest tycoons. in a little while, they will be heading uptown in a millionaires march, visiting the ritzy homes of the city's five most wealthiest, include iing robert murdoch and jamie dimon. meanwhile in boston, police say more than 100 protesters have been arrested after violent clashes with law enforcement. in atlanta and seattle, police are urging protesters to relocate or risk being arrested. but the movement shows no signs of slowing down. nbc's mar gentleman schiavocampo mains me. mara, this marks the 25th straight day of the protests, but give us a preview of what we're about to see as this millionaires march is going to take place. >> reporter: well, thomas, today is gets personal. this base camp here is located downtown in a business district near wall street, but some of the city's priciest residential

properties are uptown, and that is where protesters are going today. they're going to be taking part in this millionaires march, where they will be stopping at the homes of some of the city's richest individuals. they will be presenting them with oversized checks in the amount of money that these individuals will save when a 2% tax on millionaires expires in december. they're doing this, of course, to highlight what they say is inequality in the tax system and wealth inequality generally speaking. now, it's unlikely, of course, that they will actually get face time with these people, if they're going to fancy apartment buildings. they probably won't get lough the lobby. interesting one place they're not planning to stop is mayor bloomberg's home. he's one of the richest in the city, but he may have made friends here yesterday when he said the protesters can stay here in the park indefinitely. they can protest here as long as they want, which has not been the case elsewhere, where we have seen arrests with police trying to shut down some of the parks. thomas. >> we'll be watching today. mara schiavocampo, thank you. the search for baby lisa as

detectives continue to comb the garage and a drainage ditch in this backyard in kansas city, missouri. a grand jury is now asking to look at past tv interviews for clues into the 10-month-old's disappearance. we're going to talk to the police about just where this investigation is going, right after this. for sore muscles use new bengay cold therapy, it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a $3 coupon. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it.

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welcome back, everybody. a new legal twist in the case of that missing baby in missouri. at least four local tv stations being ordered by subpoena to turn over all raw video footage of interviews they conducted with the family and neighbors of 10-month-old lisa irwin, who went missing from her crib over a week ago. joining me now is captain steve young of the kansas city police department. captain young, we appreciate you taking time out to join us today, and let's get straight to this. why have you decided, your department, to issue subpoenas for this news footage of the interviews, and what

specifically do you think you could find on these tapes? >> well, i'm not going to open the door to getting into details of everything that we're doing, but clearly, it happened, and i think our detectives are just doing everything that people might expect that they would do. >> do you find that there are inconsistencies in the family's stories and neighbors' stories that would make you turn to these raw videotapes that will have extended b roflt interviews that were conducted that may help you piece together a better timeline? >> well, again, as i've been saying, unfortunately, since the very beginning, we really don't have any great leads. everything's on the table. we don't have any suspects. so, our detectives are doing everything they can think of. >> as you said, you don't have any great leads, no real suspects. the parents are not considered to be suspects, even though at one point, you said that they were not cooperating, something the parents then went on to deny. are they still not considered suspects? and if not, why? >> well, we don't have any suspec suspects, and the investigation is propelled by information and

facts, and if we ever have a suspect, we'll probably let you know, but right now, we don't. and as you stated, the parents are talking to detectives again and we're very happy about that because we think that's our best bet to help find this girl and figure out what happened. >> where does the search stand now? are you still combing through a local landfill? are you still combing the neighborhood? where are investigators turning their eyes to now? >> well, we don't have any searches scheduled for today, although that could change in a moment's notice. we have a full 30 to 50 detectives that are at the command post today that have been farmed out on a long list of leads that need followed up on, so we know that it only takes that one good piece of information to kick this thing off and get us headed in the direction that we need to go, so field search could come up at any time and we're still actively pursuing anything that has anything to pursue. >> we know you're doing your best within your ability there. there's lisa's picture, the number. if anybody has any information about baby lisa, call them. captain steve young of the kansas city police department. we'll let you get back to work.

thanks for your time. >> we appreciate the help. thank you. the accused terrorist who confessed to trying to blow up a plane with a bomb in his underwear is on trial today, and he's acting as his own lawyer. we're going to take you live to detroit for how this terror case may play out. also this developing now, air force one landing in another swing state today. this time, it's pennsylvania, where president obama will sell his jobs plan at a union training center in pittsburgh, also holding a meeting of his jobs council. we'll talk with obama's domestic policy council director, melanie barnes, about his jobs push with a first test vote on that scheduled for later today. back after this.

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joining me from outside the courtroom is nbc's jay gray. so, the defendant has a lawyer but is apparently representing himself in the courtroom? explain that dichotomy. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, thomas, he will be allowed to defend himself, serve as the lead defense attorney in his own case, but he does have what they're calling a standby lawyer. and we found out today as opening statements are beginning that that standby lawyer will, indeed, deliver the opening statement for the defense. so, that's a twist after preparing for a long time for this day. they are deciding to let the standby lawyer deliver that opening statement. you'll understand that the suspect here will continue to lead the defense as they move through a trial that could last three to four weeks. >> jay, as we have been following in the media since 2009, this boy's story, the case itself. what is the specific case that the government has spent its time over the last two years building? >> reporter: well, there are eight charges here. the most important, though, would be conspiracy to commit

terrorism, attempted murder, and then, of course, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. and they'll base that case not only on some physical evidence, which includes the charred walls of the jetliner, the charred seat where he was sitting. they also say they will call many of what they have described as a plane full of witnesses in this case. they'll bring in explosive experts to try and explain how dangerous of an attempt this may have been, and then they'll use an actual interview with the suspect himself that happened right after the event. using his own words, they hope to help win this case, thomas. >> nbc's jay gray. jay, great to see you, thank you. now we move on to the trial surrounding the horrific connecticut home invasion murders. closing arguments have started today in the trial of joshua komisarjevsky, charged with the murders of jennifer hauwke-peti and her two daughters, killed in a brutal home invasion in 2007. steven hayes, the second defendant, is on death row for his role in those crimes. how gop presidential

contender herman cain managed to surge ahead in the polls. melissa harris perry sounds off about how paying attention to him may be the wake-up call we all need. and marathon mom. a woman in chicago gives birth only hours after crossing the finish line, and this wasn't her first pregnant run. her amazing story and much more, after this. you. welcome to the 21st century. thank you very much. you're on e-trade. huntin' down stocks, bonds, etfs. oh i love etfs. look at you. why don't you show me your portfolio? i'd love to... i already logged out. oh no, it's easy, actually, to get back... see where it says history? there's a history? yeah, it'll take you right back to the site you were just on. well the last site... [ british vo ] and now, cycle complete. the male wildebeest returns to propagate the herd. [ animal grunts ] can you forward me this link? [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. until i tried this. nothing helped me beat arthritis pain. can you forward me this link? it's salonpas. pain relief that works at the site of pain... up to 12 hours.

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wall street should not be the target. and no, i'm not backing down from that. what i would say to them is direct your frustrations where they ought to be directed, and that's at this administration for failed economic policy. >> as wall street protesters march on the penthouses of manhattan's richest moguls today, republican upstart herman cain is not letting up on his message that they're blaming the wrong people. that may be one reason he's surging ahead in the polls of tonight's gop debate. we're showing you the nbc

news/marist poll out of iowa. cain's running close with romney at 20%. in new hampshire, also second to mitt at 13%. and if you check out this new quinnipiac poll showing cain in a virtual tie with romney in virginia. msnbc contributor melissa harris perry joins me now. she's also a professor of political science at tulane as well as a columnist for "the nation." melissa, so nice to see you this morning. >> it's nice to see you. >> you wrote about this recently for "the nation," and you touch on three specific aspects of his campaign that strike you as appealing? first, you say that he shows that african-american political ideas are complex, they are multilay multilayered, that he's focused on keeping it real and reminds us that simplistic racial arguments are dangerous. do you think that appeal is what truly is resonating with gop voters? >> no, i doubt that -- you know, i'm very interested in cain's campaign. in fact, if cain wins the gop nomination, i think i may have to just quit my job because i am going to love an obama versus cain campaign, because -- >> which job, though, because

you have so many jobs. >> i know. >> which area going to resign from first? >> i'll quit them all and just follow this campaign around, because i'm fascinated by the idea that, you know, really representing how african-americans are not just one set of ideologies, that we have complex ideas, but the fact is that herman cain's surge among republican voters probably has much less to do with that than it does with a kind of anti-romney impulse that needs to go somewhere. and it landed for a while on michele bachmann, for a while on rick perry, who's not done as well. but herman cain in this particular context economically is such an interesting person because he's got this sort of up-from story, and i think that notion of, like the self-made millionaire who's, you know, sort of straight-talking, i think that really appeals right now to gop primary voters. >> "politico" got a hold of the debate seating chart tonight, melissa, and he's right in the middle of perry and romney. perhaps it's because of headline-grabbing sound bites like this.

take a listen. >> i'm ready for the got-you questions, and they're already starting to come. when they ask me who's the president of ubekibekibanistan, i'm going to say, you know, i don't know. do you know? then i'll say how is that going to create one job? my parents never said we hope somebody can lose something so we can get something. no, my dad's idea was i want to work hard enough so i can buy a cadillac, not take somebody else's. the people who say i'm the flavor of the week don't know herman cain. because you see, before i got the idea of running for office, for president, i was on my way to cruise control, playing golf, relaxing, write some more books. i didn't need to do this for visibility and exposure. and secondly, there's a difference between the flavor of the week and the flavor with substance. i had a caller one night who asked the question, "what do you mean by take back our government?" i simply mean that our government has been hijacked by

ultra liberals. >> one thing for sure, melissa, he is redefining what cruise control means for certain people, but he does have this finesse. but voters in the end are going to be looking for electability. do you think cain possesses that? >> look, if you are going to mock the idea of foreign policy knowledge, if you're going to suggest it's irrelevant -- i mean, we're still fighting a war on two fronts, we're still engaged in the war against terrorism. you can't sort of say who cares about uzbekistan. well, it really, fundamentally matters that one would know geopolitics and foreign policy. so, as long as he continues to suggest that ignorance on a variety of a topics is sort of a standard bearer of his campaign, then no, he's not electable. but the fact is, he might still sort of inreflect this sort of whole gop process with a certain kind of folksy, conservative, you know, wisdom that can have resonance even if it's mitt

romney who ends up winning the gop nomination. >> well, one thing we can predict for sure when it comes to herman cain, we will get a gold tie tonight. we know it. he stands by those gold ties. professor melissa harris berry, good to see you. thanks so much. >> thanks. >> you can read more of melissa's thoughts on this and many other diverse political subjects at "sister citizen," part of the nation.com. and herman cain will be a guest with chuck todd on "the daily rundown" tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. eastern here on msnbc. air force one is wheels down in pittsburgh. president obama is keeping the jobs message growing even as the likelihood grows that his plan won't pass the senate in one piece. melanie barnes is director of the white house policy council and joins me live from pittsburgh. melanie, nice to see you this morning. the president standing firm on this message, his message, and we're not expected to see really any senate republicans support for this bill. if that happens, what is going to be the message to the american people? >> well, first of all, thank you so much for having me.

and you're right, the president has sent forward a jobs package that independent analysts say could create 1.3 or 1.9 million jobs, and that's why he's insistent, that's why the majority leader is taking up the bill today. we know that we have a majority of democrats with us. and i think the question, because we don't know, the question is whether or not republicans, some republicans will join with those democrats to pass this bill and to actually move forward and bring those jobs to the american people. >> melody, here's an exchange between our chuck todd and senator schumer this morning. take a listen. >> okay. >> what is the plan after today? the whole bill does not make it, doesn't get -- you don't get the 60 votes, then it's piecemeal? you start doing it piece by piece? >> yes, we're going to start looking at doing it piece by piece. each of these pieces has broad support among the american people. as we draw the line on the specific issues, i think you may find the kind of coming together that we're not going to find on the vote today. >> melody, obviously, if the

president had his, he wants lawmakers to pass the bill in entirety. is that a compromise position, though, he would support seeing it go piece by piece? >> well, and i'll answer your question, but the reason the president wants to pass this bill in its entirety, this isn't just, you know, drawing a line in the sand. this is because this bill could create as many as 1.9 million jobs. those are the facts, that's the data. that comes from independent analysts. that's why he wants to get the whole thing done and that's why he put together pieces that have received bipartisan support. but you know, i worked in the senate for eight years. i understand, the senate's got to make a decision, if in fact this bill doesn't pass, and we still hope that it will, about how it will proceed, because the bottom line is we have to create jobs for the american people. it's what they desperately want. it's what they sent congress to washington for. it's why they put the president in the white house. >> all right, so, you are in pittsburgh. i know you've been traveling on to florida. tonight there is the republican debate taking place in new hampshire.

here is current front-runner mitt romney attacking the president's handling of the economy. >> the obama economy is a "where's waldo" economy. it is -- finding a job, a good paying job in this economy is harder than finding waldo in one of his books. >> so, as we know, there are millions of americans across this country right now looking for that good-paying job that romney is talking about. what is your response to criticism like that? >> well, first of all, let's remember, when we entered into office, we were losing about 800,000 jobs monthly, by the quarter. we have turned that around and now we're actually creating private-sector jobs. in the last few months we've -- this year -- we've created about 1 million private sector jobs and even more than that over the president's tenure. but that's why he's put this jobs plan together. that's why it includes infrastructure, so we can put contractors and construction workers back to work, why we can put teachers in classrooms where they belong, why we can put money back into the pockets of

the american workers, why we can incentivize and work with businesses and small business owners and give them hiring tax credits so that they can bring those people in to their firms, into their offices, on to their work sites. that's why the president is moving forward as he is, and that's why we're hoping that republicans are going to join with the majority of democrats and get this bill passed. >> melody, deputy white house press secretary josh ernest just said in an off-camera air force one gaggle that the president will probably be watching the tigers/rangers game tonight instead of the debate? do you think that's true? you don't think he's going to be curious about what they say in new hampshire? >> i actually don't know, but i know that the president is most interested in making sure that we get this bill passed today and coming here and working with his jobs council, who are also advancing additional ideas, bipartisan ideas to create jobs for the american people. and incidentally, ideas that are supported by this jobs act. association that's what the president's focus is going to be. >> programming note to point out

to everybody, 1:50 p.m., the president will be speaking in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. melody barnes, director of white house domestic policy council. melody, great to see you this morning. we'll let you get back to work. thank you. >> great. thanks so much. so, here are some other headlines topping the news for you right now. jurors in the michael jackson deat death trial will hear the last chunk of a taped interview that detectives did with the singer's former doctor. on that recording, conrad murray describes how he told jackson's mother and children about the singer's death. he also describes how bags containing propofol were stashed in his bedroom. murray is accused of giving jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic. the trial resumes in about ten minutes from right now. hank williams jr. is telling espn to "keep the change" after the worldwide leader in sports pulled the famous theme song from "monday night football." after taking heat for comparing president obama to hitler on "fox & friends," the country music star is lashing out at

espn and fox news with a new song. ♪ so, fox and friends wanna put me down ♪ ♪ ask for my opinion, then twist it all around ♪ ♪ supposed to be talking about my father's new cd ♪ ♪ well, two can play that gotcha game, just wait and see ♪ ♪ don't tread on me >> they always say write about what you know, right? so, espn and fox news, they have declined to comment so far. disappointment for basketball fans as the nba's first two weeks of games have now been canceled. owners and players are deadlocked in a labor dispute that failed to meet a deadline on monday. as of now, a total of 100 games will be lost as this lockout will drag on. an illinois woman is being called the marathon mom today after competing in the 26.2-mile race in chicago. just hours later, look at that, giving birth to her second child with her doctor's blessing and

her husband running beside her. the chicago mom was feeling up for it. in fact, it was her eighth marathon, her third one running pregnant. congrats to her and the rest of her family. rick perry looks the part and has the cash, but is it enough? why tonight's debate might be it for the presidential hopeful. [ male announcer ] robitussin, advil, clorox disinfecting wipes and...a digital recorder. i'm finally feeling better. good honey, you turn into such a little whiner when you're sick. no i don't. [ bawk! ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that sounds nothing like me. [ beep ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that kind of does. [ male announcer ] get low prices every day on everything to prepare for cold and flu season. we're so confident in our low prices, we back 'em with our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. it's bring your happiness to work day. campbell's microwavable soups. in three minutes -- the deliciousness that brings a smile to any monday.

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welcome back, everybody. tonight's debate could be do-or-die for rick perry. perry's campaign says this week and at this debate, the texas governor will be talking about jobs and the economy. it's what he's always wanted to focus on, but it hasn't been so easy for him of late. >> no. >> you don't think so? >> do you believe that mormonism is a cult, governor? >> i've already answered that back there. i said no. nobody's got a stronger record on immigration than myself. are we going to create a class

of tax wasters or are we going to create taxpayers? texans chose the latter. all of us agree that the word that was on that rock is a very offensive rock and a very offensive word. >> add to those troubles, nbc news/marist poll's out this morning showing his poll numbers tanking. he fell to fourth place in iowa and new hampshire with just 10% and 6% of the vote. jim vandehei is executive editor with "politico," joining us now. perry's message, he falling in the polls. how important is it for him to get back up on the horse and ride? >> i think he's got a couple debat debates, but particularly tonight to turn it around around show he can command that stage and he is as plausible a opponent to president obama as the others. to date, he's had struggles in the debates. some of the performances, some of the moments have been cringe-worthy. others have been very uneven and that's given a lot of people pause. as you can tell, people are watching these debates and

they're reacting to it. and the fact that he's now number four in iowa and in new hampshire and sinking nationally shows impyrrhically that he's got big problems. now, he's got $15 million cash on hand, more than anyone other than romney as far as having capacity to sort of spend his way out of this problem, but all the money in the world can't change the image of an uneven performer if he cannot start to perform more evenly and more powerfully in these settings. >> jim, as we were talking about, there have been problems on the campaign trail, and as you bring up, these struggles at the past debates. take a listen. >> did we handle it right? should we have talked to the legislature first before we did it? probably so. if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they've been brought there by no fault of their own, i don't think you have a heart. was it before -- he was before the social programs from the standpoint of he was for standing up for roe versus wade

before he was against roe versus wade? >> jim, is perry his own worst enemy when it comes to these debates? >> oh that last one i think was the most cringe-worthy moment of any of his performance in any of these debates. he is. so far, he's not been able to project that i'm a strong, confident, can beat president obama leader, and that's what he has to do to excite conservatives and get people thinking anew about him as a plausible winner of the republican nomination. >> jim, i understand "politico" is holding its own primary for possible third-party candidate. what can you tell us about that one? >> we are. on politico.com, we've thrown out about ten different names, a lot of them solicited from readers to see if there is an appetite for a third-party candidate. among the candidates who are doing well so far in the voting are hillary clinton is doing well, michael bloomberg. huntsman, governor huntsman, who's obviously running as a republican but is often very critical of the republican party, is doing surprisingly well, too. so, basically, we're looking for readers on twitter, yahoo! our

site, others to get in there and vote, just a reporting exercise to figure out what is the appetite, what kind of candidates are people looking for for aid third-party candidate. >> interesting to see the results coming in so far. j jim, thanks. at a time when it seems state after state is getting really tough on immigration laws, one ohio city is depending on them to reverse the economic slowdown. the mayor of dayton joining me next. boomers who want to keep working after retirement are taking part-time jobs. the aarp suggests these -- baron assistant. shelf books, catalog and help track overdue materials. personal home care aides. help the elderly and disabled. or be a handyman. many building owners hire part-time workers to perform basic maintenance. i habe a cohd.

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this week, illegal immigrants in alabama are racing to sign documents allowing friends to care for their kids if they're deported. it stems from the nation's

toughest immigration law there. while some states push for tougher laws, dayton, ohio is making their city more attractive to immigrants. welcome dayton plan makes it easier for immigrants to get settled there. joining me now, the mayor of dayton. nice to have you on with us. explain the details of this plan and this way that you've come up with to capitalize on what other states are pushing away from. >> basically what initiated the whole thing in dayton was we discovered that we had over 300 families of russian, turkish refugees, and they have been arriving in dayton, in north dayton, and buying houses and fixing them up and making the neighborhoods look nice and safe. and we decided it would be beneficial to facilitate their success here in dayton so that they could, you know, be coming an economic development driver

for us, and whatever we could do to help cross the language barriers would be good. >> right. >> and along the way, we found we didn't just have russian turks, we had people from rwanda, sudan, somalia, people from korea, philippines all here. >> we don't have a problem here in dayton with gangs or anything like that. and we do have legal hispanics that are actually in the construction trade and they're redeveloping some of our neighborhoods. >> mayor, you could be a test case for the rest of the country. we'll see how it goes for you as you welcome immigrants to the city of dayton. thanks to you. >> thank you. before we go, i need to give a big thank you and shoutout to this gallon a. friends of lesbians and gays

provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and identity. i was proud to have my family there. food star sandra lee was there for anti-bullying efforts, and marriage equality, and the charity raised $150,000 last night. congrats to them. that does it for me. appreciate your time. see you back at 11:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow. you can follow me on twitter. craig melvin will pick things up next on msnbc. stick around.

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double his two closest rivals combined. but the iowa numbers are different. romney leads with 23% but herman cain is a close second with 20%. what's behind cain's gain with voters? >> they are looking for the anti-romney. herman cain is the latest "not mitt romney." >> or is it more that cain seems to be the only man with a plan. >> he's the only republican, including romney out there that has a plan, it is 999. he is talking about what he would do. >> hello. thank you so much. >> and cain seems to be in the conservative. >> he leads two to one among those that identify with the tea party. there is nothing put potholes here for romney. there's a reason he has been hesitant to go in iowa and these numbers show it